true disciple 2 — John 14-15

0:00 I wanna pick up really where I left off last time. You can turn your Bibles there. That's a pop quiz by the way. Let's open in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for gathering us.

0:25 We thank you for your son. We recognize him and him alone as our our head, our savior, our shepherd, our king. We gather now to have him speak to us. We believe your word has been preserved to our generation. We trust that each of us will know in our hearts and our souls being confirmed by your spirit, lord, that we're spending time before you and then collectively as a local assembly here in Westlake, we trust that you would speak to your people for the purpose of establishing a testimony here in this neighborhood.

1:13 Therefore, we commit our time into your hands in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. If you don't remember, I'm happy to remind you. But before we get to that, more and more I read about robotic responses.

1:38 Bots. Phone bots. Telephone phone bot. These are all robotic plugged into this wonderful thing we call, mic or WiFi and cell phones and the Internet. All these electronic ability that we have.

2:11 You know, no matter what, you can just plug in. And then there's these bots that suddenly you find, wow, they seem kind of invasive. They're they're spying on. It's a robotic response to anything you do. You look at something online pretty soon, next time you open anything there's like 10 adverse events.

2:33 Usually nine are from Amazon, all right? I say that because I wanna wanna coin a new word. Maybe it exists, I've never heard it. This is the first time you're gonna hear it. Maybe if not, you can correct me afterwards.

2:53 You heard it or maybe you already invented it. Why bot? Why bot? Not w h y, y as in yes. And y therefore being short and formed of yes.

3:09 Why bots? The robotic response of our soul when we hear God's word, yes. Usually followed by another word that sounds like bot, but it's with a u instead of a zero or a o. Yes, but. I think Christians, we're just perfect yes buts or why bots.

3:35 No matter what you say to people, but. That's true, but. I understand that, but. It's very bothersome. Now, if somebody was in Blazdell, invited me to come and make disciples, help them teach people how to be disciples.

4:00 Three times in a Zoom meeting, I asked them, you sure you want me? Why? Well, because Christians, especially young people, and I'm gonna pick on you young people. It wasn't like this in my generation. I don't think.

4:16 You're full of... Your your robotic response to the word of God is not healthy. It's not spiritually healthy. I'm not pointing any fingers. I'm just saying that we cannot just robotically response to God's word by saying, but not me, but not this circumstance, not me because.

4:39 And all these excuses that we make for being less thans. It's one thing to be a less fortunate. It's another thing to constantly explain our behavior being less than Christ wants us to be. Less than a true disciple. A true disciple.

5:17 So, where's the water? You want me to help people learn how to be a disciple? You gotta have water because I'm gonna tell them get in the water first. When you get out of the water, we'll go to lesson two. Get in the water first, publicly confess that you're a follower, and you desire to follow the lord Jesus.

5:37 Get in. We'll dry off. We got towels. It's summer. I've been in cold water and I'm going up in the hills.

5:51 They didn't care if it was winter or not. You start in the water. That's the lord Jesus. Go make disciples. Baptizing them.

6:00 First thing, baptizing them. Now, you wanna be a disciple? Get in the water. You don't wanna get in the water? Come back when you're ready to get in the water.

6:09 Don't learn anything else until you get in the water. Teach people to observe things Yeah, you gotta teach people to believe certain things in order to help them observe but it's just not a matter of teach people what to believe. Teach people to practice. Teach people to observe things, not observation skills observe, where you notice things, but you practice things. That's hard to teach young people.

6:52 You know why? In the world that we live in, there are why bots. Yeah, I believe I should but. Yeah, I believe but. I believe I but.

7:10 Well, why buts? And it sneaks into old people too. I'm not saying I've never been a why bot. I'm just saying that the flesh has a the ability to wiggle out of any direct hit by the word of god. Direct hit, smack dab on the forehead, the spirit of god convinced by you, you're saying something to me, It's your spirit bearing witness with my spirit.

7:36 Not only that I'm a child of god but that you're speaking. God in the times past has spoken various ways with two prophets has in these last days spoken to us by his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is alive, then he speaks. He speaks. You know that in your soul.

7:57 If you don't know that in your soul, you better gut check to see if you really belong to him because it's his spirit. Romans eight says, that bears witness with our inner person, our soul, that we're his children. Alright, now we need to hear his voice. This is where we left off. You know when Jesus left the upper room?

8:23 Now, I don't know historically where you're at personally and understanding the details of Christ going into the upper room, the night and when he got to the garden. A very very complicated. Not everybody agrees. Of the chronological events. When did they actually leave the upper room?

8:54 John 14 ends with, and Christ said arise, let's go. Was that when they left upper room? If you hold to that which many people do and I'm not saying I don't, then where did he pray John 17? Before he crossed the Brook Hedron and went up the hill, back up the hill into the Garden Of Gethsemane? Did he, is that?

9:19 He, you mean he was praying John 17 while he was walking with the 11, the son of perdition, already had been excused. Now he's walking with 11, end of John 14, and he says, follow him, let's go, let's go, what's next? I'm gonna go to the garden. This is the day of Passover. It is the most joyful celebration in the nation's annual celebrations.

9:48 Passover, everybody's having a blast. It's fourth of July to the Jews. It's fireworks. You know, and Christ now is talking about his death. Well, this is a downer.

10:06 You know, and not that anybody was gonna argue with them. They did argue about the feet washing, at least one did. I mean, and so the... And then what are they arguing about? Well, it's just happy conversation.

10:22 There's a lot of happiness and that's what the Jews believe. You're gonna celebrate with festivity. The festivals are supposed to be fun and so here they are. But what are they arguing about? Which one of us are gonna sit closest to him in heaven?

10:36 Who's gonna be the greatest disciple? Yeah, it was a it was a terrible breaking of bread. There gotta be times you come here where you think that's not a very good breaking of bread. I want you to put yourself in that upper room. Know this that Christ could see Satan enter Judas.

10:56 That Christ could say to Peter, Satan has desired to have it, that he had a sense of the spiritual battle that was going for the souls of his disciples. He had an awareness. They didn't. Can I get some more wine please? That's only my third cup.

11:12 I get four. By Jewish tradition, I get four. And so, I mean, now they leave the upper room. Are they in a good mood? Some of you leave, you're not in good moods.

11:33 That, I'm just saying, I don't know, I I really don't know that much about all of you. But the point of it is because they're human and we're human that we have our hearts drawn to the possibility that they left that upper room. Obviously uncertain, fourteenth chapter starts with what? Don't let your hearts be troubled. In other words, just celebrating Passover.

11:58 What would we be troubled by? Because I gave you these emblems to use to show my death. Bringing that up again. Peter already tried to get in his way, didn't he? On the mount or before the mount.

12:13 And then Peter, James, and John, he takes up on the mount. And Luke's gospel is very clear that Moses and Elijah in glory were there talking to Christ about the things which he would accomplish in his death in Jerusalem and what are they doing? The details of Calvary put people to sleep sometimes. Listening to other people talk about Calvary makes other people fall asleep. Moses and Elijah talking about the things Christ would accomplish in his death.

12:49 Peter, James and John sleeping. Ever fall asleep at the lord's supper? Ever want to. I know it's early. Actually, you're kinda late.

13:03 10:00. That's pretty convenient, 10:00 on a Sunday. You cut the grass before you get here. At 10:00. Yeah, but, you know, it's your preference obviously because then comes John 15 and this is where we were.

14:09 He's walking to the mount. He's telling him, now, John 15, I'm the true vine. You are the branches. My father, my father, Jesus said. He cuts off any branch that doesn't bear fruit.

14:28 That's where we were. John 15. What? What? He cuts off?

14:41 That sounds like I've lost my eternal salvation. No, it doesn't. Doesn't sound like that at all unless that is what people are most afraid of. And why would Christians be most afraid of losing their salvation? Why?

15:01 Why would there be as the writer of the Hebrews explains for those who sin willfully? Why would there be this constant fearful looking for of judgement? Is it? Because we know we're not walking with the lord. Snip.

15:22 But not often the sense of fallen, breaking away. I try to introduce the possibility that the word can be translated suspended. Suspended. It's not the also used that way in the gospels. How long will you keep us in suspense, the Jews demanded.

15:41 That's the word. How long are you gonna suspend us in this not knowing for sure? That's the word. You see? So, think about the gardener suspending some some branches.

15:55 Branches that haven't bear fruit and why? Why would he do that? For the care of the branch, also for the care of the vine. The care of the vine, the father cares for the vine. That's his son.

16:09 He knows all the branches that aren't bearing fruit and he knows how to, as the perfect gardener, suspend them for the purpose of the vine and the branch, both at the same time. That's Jesus teaching after the breaking of bread the first time. Don't go away, he said. Without me you can do nothing, he said. So, all this teaching of John 15 while they're merely wondering what's next as they leave the Passover meal, walk through the streets of the city, if they were in fact at Mark's house, they're coming down to the very lowest part of the city where they can go out that gate, crossing Brookhedrin, and up the hill again to Gethsemane.

16:56 Mount Of Walls, which is one of the mounds. That made up, as you know, if you know Solomon's life, the amount of corruption. And this is the details. These are the details that we put together and we see this wonderful picture of Jesus Christ now taking his disciples, leaving the lord's supper, and saying what to them? Don't go home.

17:18 What do you mean you're going home? No, you're gonna walk with me. I'm gonna teach you a few things you need to know because I'm gonna, it's gonna happen tonight. It's gonna happen. And how intently, maybe, hopefully, prayerfully, each of these 11 disciples were to every word that Jesus said.

17:38 Now, picture it in your mind, the streets probably weren't wide enough for 12 people abreast. Which means, if I play the video right, and I might not have the video sharp focus. It means that there are some people literally next to them perhaps, and some people maybe four people deep. Where are they fitting, catch every word? Yeah, I didn't get all that.

18:02 Did you hear? Especially if you're... I got hearing aids in my life. If you're deaf, then you're not gonna... And so, there's this responsibility on each of those 11.

18:17 To do what? Don't miss one word. Do you have that while you sit here this morning? I don't wanna miss one word that Jesus Christ has to me. You can miss all my words.

18:30 That's not important. Don't miss what Jesus Christ is saying. Please, beloved, don't miss what he is saying to you. For you, that you need to follow. That you need to be a good follower.

18:52 And so here they go, and John fifteen's there. Suddenly he's talking about being cut off. Being, if I don't abide, being thrown in, I mean just all that. Again, I and I've said before, I would think if I was there physically, I would have constantly been like Peter, put my hand on him and said, hold on, hold on, don't take another step, can you explain that? I need an explanation.

19:21 I hear the words. I can memorize the words. I know. I wanna know what it means. To me.

20:10 You're wasting soil. The the vines could get the nutrients from the soil and be better grapes if we cut this tree down. You remember? You remember, right? Luke 13?

20:21 Many of you were here. I know some of you weren't here because you had a sick dog but we won't mention who that is. Alright? And and Jesus example in that parable is simply this, he said that the vineyard keeper said to the owner, no. No.

20:44 Give me one more year. I will personally dig it up and I will personally take manure and spread it around it to see if it'll bear fruit and that's such a picture of Jesus Christ. That's a picture of Jesus Christ that we love, we adore. One who's not willing to give up, to say, yeah, just suspend them until they get more serious. Yeah, they're just teenagers.

21:09 Just, yeah, they're going through a tough patch. Yeah, they don't know. They're, no, listen, Jesus Christ is all dead. I'll not only go to Calvary and die for him. Now, when it comes down to them being a follower yet fruitless, I'm going to dig.

21:25 I'm not giving up. I'm gonna dig up in their life. I'm gonna get the roots. I'm gonna get down to the bottom of what's going on and I'm gonna put some fertilizer in it. Fertilizer, the waste of the world.

21:38 The waste of the world. I look around a lot of Christians who started off well following Christ. They're totally compacted with worldly waste. And they don't even know it. They can't even smell it And they don't even care.

21:59 They don't even care. They just don't care. I know this is where you want to be a why bot. I picked out where in the message people will be the most tempted to be a Ybot. I'm going to read you a passage.

22:21 I'm not, you might know where it's at. You can turn to it if you want. I'm not gonna tell you where it's at because I don't want you going to your translations and looking at it and saying, why bot? Mine says this, why bot? Mine doesn't say that.

22:35 What? Just listen. I'll read it. Woe. To you who are complacent in Zion.

22:48 And you who feel secure on Mount Samaria. Alright? Now, obviously, Old Testament. August, Amos. Amos, a herdsman from living south in Jerusalem called upon by god, a shepherd, to speak to the nation of Israel, the 10 northern tribes, already divided under Jeroboam two, and Judah, centered around Jerusalem.

23:24 You notable men of Mount Zion and you perfectly strong men who feel secure because you have this mountain fortress on Mount Samaria. You feel secure and at the same time you're complacent. Are those compatible? Those two words in the same sentence, you can feel both at the same time. I can be complacent, insecure, or I can be complacent because I feel secure.

23:57 You who feel secure. Alright? Now, you want me to teach you that you are secure? I'll be glad to do that. I'll I'll be glad to teach the scriptures to anybody who's searching and questioning whether they need to be born again, again, again, again, again, and again.

24:19 No, you need to be born again once. You've been born physically once. You need to be born spiritually once. You can never repeat it. You cannot lose your salvation, not yours to lose, yours to provide it.

24:32 Because you're in Christ, born there by the spirit of god, not your doing, you think that you're doing, born to as many as receiving to them, he gave the power, the authority to become the not the will of the flesh or the will of blood or the will of another human being. Born of god. It's an experience. Whether you felt it or not. You can't be unborn.

24:56 Right? That's not the point of this truth. This is a sense that I can be complacent about what's going on in my life because I have this strong feeling of security. Because I got all these verses memorized that tells me no matter what I'm doing, I'm safe. Good place to be.

25:21 And I'm gonna go as far as some of this is my fault. It's my fault. I taught people they're secure regardless of what they do. Because it's true, but not to the point that, listen, you can be complacent about your spiritual life. You can be complacent about, you don't care about your relationship with Jesus Christ and you wanna what?

25:46 Sleep peacefully tonight? No. You forfeit that peace for the pleasure of your lifestyles. You forfeit peace. Now, you can put a lot of worldly waste on it.

26:00 You can pack it down and you can think well, you know, that really doesn't matter. Listen, this is this is an epidemic. The spiritual complacency among, let's just limit it. Just to those who insist that they know so much about scripture and desirous of so closely following New Testament truth. Let's just admit, it's rampant.

26:33 In the second generation, third generation, fourth generation. Complacency about their walk with the lord. Complacency about their testimony. About their purpose on the planet You see, actually, think your purpose on this planet is so you could just get abundant life. I read it.

27:05 Your purpose on his plan is to function under his headship. To do that, you have to follow. You have to walk with him. Complacency is deadly. It is contagious.

27:37 If you keep linking the word security to whether you're gonna be in heaven, of course, you're never gonna feel insecure. How do you really feel about the judgment seat of Christ? Whatever the flesh wants to wipe out it? You wanna wipe out the judgment seat of Christ? It'll be over this fast.

27:59 I won't have to worry about it because he'll just go through me real quick because there's a whole line of people he's gonna do. And if we're in chronological order, I know that I will suffer. What? That kind of complacency? You don't care about the judgment seat of Christ?

28:15 You don't care about looking at Jesus Christ who you wonderfully sing about and sing to and can't wait to see him and he's gonna ask you, go ahead, explain yourself since the day you got saved. I got a date here when you got saved. I knew it before you did it. Because your name's written in the lamb's book of life. Now, what have you been doing since with your life?

28:39 Oh, you decided to do what? Oh, that's pretty generic. Let's turn up every day. Now, he could do all that this fast, but trust me, I don't think this would be this fast. Can you give an account since the day you were saved?

29:00 Jesus Christ is gonna ask you. Now, I know, the why bots are gonna say, well, there's no tears in heaven. Not that we're not in heaven, we're at the judgment seat. It's not the new heaven yet. Well, there's no...

29:20 No. You will suffer loss. Although your soul will be saved in the day of lord as recorded in first Corinthians chapter three. There will be a sense Don't think you can just bump em off. I'm saved.

29:40 And guess what? He's happy that I'm at least saved. And so are my parents. They're happy I'm saved. They don't really care what I do because they know in the end I'll be with them.

29:54 Really? That's the kind of complacency that we're tolerating when we're trying to do what? Make disciples followers? We're not trying to make believers. We're trying to make followers.

30:08 Go and make disciples. Not go and make believers. Of course, one follows the other but the task given to us is to make disciples. Not to encourage believers to continue in the path of destruction. That's not our course.

30:29 He did not tell us, go out and make everybody feel good and please, no matter what they're doing, help them feel secure so they don't worry about how. Don't, that's not our instruction, sorry, but that's what we seem wonderfully good at. Making people feel good despite their bad choices. Because who who wants to confront anybody? Nobody wants to confront anybody.

30:56 Nobody wants to get in somebody's face and say, you know, really, I thought you were a follower of Christ, but don't ask that. And guess what, most people don't wanna do that because deep down inside, they don't want anybody doing it to them. So let's just be in this mess together. Don't ask, don't tell. Really?

31:19 That's the church you want to go to? I can easily go there because they have no expectations. And really, that's a good question. I asked that once in Erie. They haven't answered it yet.

31:31 Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh because that was like fifteen years ago. What is anybody's reasonable expectation when you walk in that door? What do you expect? Not what is required. Just start with what do you expect when you walk in.

31:50 Do you expect to come into a room where people are just gonna, they love me, they wanna help me, they wanna encourage me. It's really just like an AA therapy. I would stand up and say my name. Hello, my name is Doug and I'm an alcoholic, and everybody will sit down because we're all in this together. That's what you expect.

32:08 Traditional support therapy? That's not the church. You'll find that out in Ephesians if you don't know it already. You'll find that out in Ephesians. And that traditional support there is all good stuff in the world and not here.

32:24 Not when you have a living son of God eternally promised to meet no matter where you gather parking lot, down the street, at the schoolyard, in his building. I'll be there where two or more of them. When I'm there, they're gonna function under my leadership because I'm the head and they're members of my body in particular and I place them there by design. That's the Jesus Christ we're talking about. More from Amos.

32:56 Verse two of chapter six. No. We're jumping over that. Don't have time. Verse three, you put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror.

33:09 You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice slams and fatted calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowl fill. You use the finest lotions but you do not grieve.

34:08 You see, whenever there's a clear indication of a particular trait of my character as a human being, I find great joy in seeing the opposite in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ got off that donkey on Palm Sunday and he wept over Jerusalem. When's the last time you wept over the spiritual condition of somebody you love? Is your prayer meeting filled with people, parents weeping over their children who have gone away from the Lord? Or have you become complacent?

35:01 Woe to you complacent, you do not grieve like you should grieve over the condition of your brothers. So I'll ask you, your prayer meeting, Do you gather and take a portion of the prayer meeting to grieve together? Over the condition of your loved ones. Jesus Christ got to the city that where he put his name and grieved over it. He has never been complacent about how he feels towards me.

35:59 Never. The amount of zeal he has towards me, towards you. Not one ounce ever of, I just don't feel that intense about that anymore, Doug. He's intense and he's intentional and that's why he's our savior because he feels He's not a white bot. He feels towards you.

36:47 You see? This is Jesus Christ. For all those who have been suspended, you think he doesn't feel towards you? If you're gonna have any sense of security, have that how he feels and he will grieve over you. Even you belong to him.

37:13 He's not, well, I'm happy that they belong and I know they're safe because I got them. Those are true. That's not how he feels when you don't walk with him. You see? We have a great savior.

37:34 We will echo the words that we have already joyfully sang. Hallelujah. What a savior. Have a good time at Ephesians. Closing prayer.

38:21 And we don't deserve it. And we pray Lord. That you would turn our hearts back to that which is important to you. And we would have individuals in our lives lord that we would acknowledge that we should grieve over. Forgive us that we don't have that intensity.

38:44 We don't have that energy to help recover. We don't have a desire lord to be confrontational. We don't wanna chase people away lord but we need help. We need help, Lord. We commit ourselves to you for that.

39:05 Christ's precious name, amen.